AllMovie

In her second film, Broadway actress Ann Harding plays the vacationing wife of a judge who finds herself blackmailed by a notorious gigolo. Leaving her husband after a quarrel, Vera Kessler (Harding) dallies rather innocently with Arnold Hartman (Lawford Davidson). Hartman, however, engages in a bit of blackmail and when Vera confronts him, a scuffle breaks out. In the heat of the moment, Vera picks up a gun and the gigolo ends up dead. The butler is arrested for the crime, and although the poor man is acquitted in court, Vera's guilt drives her to leave her husband. But the good judge (Harry Bannister) overhears his wife confessing the truth to the rather confused factotum and forgives her. Despite the mediocre plot and an overstuffed production, Her Private Affair proved a huge box-office success and boded well for Harding's future in Hollywood. Harry Bannister was "Mr. Harding" in private life at the time.